By Al Vinikour  
MotorwayAmerica.com

Just like everyone who remembers where they were when they got the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated, so, too, they remember their first new car.

Mine came in February 1964 when I was a full-time employee of the United States Postal Service (or as I called myself then, a “Federal Agent”). I looked at the usual array of Chevy’s, Pontiacs, Mopars, etcetera, but I was intrigued by the new Mercury Comet. It was a good-looking car and offered a wealth of options.

I went to the local Lincoln-Mercury dealer in Skokie, Ill. — Gerald Motors — and talked with a salesman about buying a new Comet Caliente hardtop. The Caliente was the top trim level at the time so I laid out a list of what I wanted in the vehicle. As the salesman wrote the items down he told me that Mercury had just announced a new model that had everything I wanted in the Caliente, standard.

It was during the era that Ford released mid-year models and designated them 19XX ½ models. The one he mentioned happened to be called the 1964 ½ Comet Cyclone. Once I saw the brochure he had just received I was hooked. According to him I had just ordered the first Cyclone in the Chicago area.

My Cyclone had a 289 cubic inch, 210-horsepower V-8 with a four-barrel carburetor, a four-speed manual transmission and a 3.25:1 rear end. It only came with single exhaust but the muffler was a high-performance fiberglass unit that created a really distinctive burble. Unlike the Caliente body that had a brushed aluminum/chrome swoop on the rear fenders, the lines of the Cyclone were clean. The lower front fenders behind the wheel wells were found Cyclone logos with angled checkered flags. It had chromed hubcaps that resembled what are now magnesium wheels.

The interior had black vinyl bucket seats and a center console. I even ordered seat belt retractors (but they hardly ever worked right). There was a tachometer midway across and atop the instrument panel that was angled towards the driver. It was a surprisingly fast vehicle and turned a lot of heads, not only for its performance but also for its appearance.

While there were a lot of larger muscle cars around there weren’t a lot of Cyclones. I don’t’ recall what the exact price of the vehicle was but I seem to remember a figure of about $2,950.

I don’t think I’ve seen more than a half-dozen Cyclones in the past several decades but the memory of that fun car will live with me forever.